"Europe Hates Trump, They Want Our Money": What Would Happen If the US Withdraws from NATO?
Calling on the US President to withdraw from the military alliance and focus on domestic issues
The United States should stop deceiving itself, withdraw from NATO, and focus on the real enemies — those right at its borders. Former U.S. National Security Advisor and retired Major General Michael Flynn made such a call to President Donald Trump.
Flynn said that without the United States, NATO would effectively be equivalent to the European Union. However, the values between the U.S. and Europe are now almost completely opposite.
"They want globalization, they crave fascism, they need Islamism, they pursue open borders, they promote censorship. They want our money, they want our army. It is us who are useful to them, not the other way around," Flynn said.
He also bluntly told Trump that the EU "hates him with all his heart," and that all actions taken by European leaders are damaging to American interests.
"We must not head toward self-destruction of civilization. It's time to stop pretending not to hear and put aside the Eurocentric lens, and focus on our real enemies," wrote this former presidential advisor.
Flynn emphasized in conclusion that one of the connotations of the "America First" policy is "thinking wholeheartedly about the country." He called on Trump to do everything possible to protect the U.S. Constitution and the American way of life.
"It is precisely this idea that constitutes the core reason we voted for you," Flynn stressed.
Looking back, Michael Flynn, former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, served as Trump's National Security Advisor in January 2017, but resigned after just 24 days due to a scandal involving his contact with the then-Russian ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak. Today, this retired general has become a political activist and one of the core theorists of the "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) movement.
However, Flynn is not the first person to view NATO as a "useless and dangerous burden." Previously, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie and Republican Senator Mike Lee from Utah had openly called for the U.S. to withdraw from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Notably, Trump considered nominating Mike Lee for the position of Attorney General after being elected president.
Thus, the issue of the U.S. withdrawing from NATO is not new, although the motivations of those proposing it vary greatly. Nevertheless, these voices remain isolated for now.
Yet, at this moment, Reuters cited sources from the U.S. government and the Pentagon, revealing a major news: Washington plans to push Europe to take on most of the defense responsibilities within the NATO framework by 2027, including intelligence and missile system-related tasks. If NATO allies fail to meet this goal on time, the U.S. threatens to withdraw from the agencies responsible for coordinating NATO defense.
Subsequently, the U.S. released a new national security strategy, which clearly stated that NATO should stop expanding eastward, while the U.S. is committed to restoring strategic stability with Russia.
The UK's Financial Times openly expressed its concerns, stating that if the leader of NATO follows this new national security strategy, it may abandon leadership of the alliance and seek improved relations with Moscow.
The report stated: "If this logic is fully implemented, the result could be the U.S. exiting NATO, breaking ties with current European governments, and establishing a strategic partnership with Russia."
But let's assume a seemingly impossible scenario — what if the U.S. actually exits NATO? What of the original goals of this military-political alliance established in 1949 would remain today?
Freedom News interviewed Boris Shmelev, a Ph.D. in economics, professor, and head of the Center for Political Studies at the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, on this issue:
NATO, or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is well known to have been established after World War II. At the same time, the core policy goals of the U.S. in Europe were also set. The first Secretary General of NATO, Hastings Ismay, summarized these goals as: "Keep the Americans, contain the Russians, and control the Germans."
In other words, the U.S. needed to control Europe, preventing it from being influenced by the Soviet Union, while preventing Germany's rise to avoid it becoming the dominant power in Europe again.
For a long time, these three principles were the cornerstone of the U.S. policy towards Europe and determined the overall strategic direction of the U.S. But later, circumstances began to change. The center of global economy and politics gradually shifted towards the Asia-Pacific region.
Therefore, the U.S. now prioritizes relationships with relevant countries and its strategic position in the Asia-Pacific region. NATO has been pushed to a secondary position, although its importance has not completely disappeared.
Freedom News: But Europeans are still worried...
Boris Shmelev: After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the threat posed by Russia to Europe has always been minimal.
Although there is now a lot of talk in the EU about "Russia is about to invade," everyone knows that this is just political propaganda. Russia has no intention of attacking Europe, and it has no reason to do so. Based on this, the U.S. has begun to reassess its stance on NATO.
In fact, Trump has always believed that the role of NATO in global and European affairs has changed significantly. Therefore, its strategic significance to the U.S. has also decreased. This is the root cause of the repeated calls for the U.S. to withdraw from NATO.
Boris Shmelev: However, in my opinion, the possibility of the U.S. leaving NATO is very low. Even if Trump and Vice President Vance themselves wanted to do so, it would be difficult to implement. After all, the connection between NATO and the U.S. is already deeply intertwined.
Freedom News: Then, how should we interpret Flynn's warning?
Boris Shmelev: From the current situation, Flynn's statement does make sense — the differences between the U.S. and European politicians have indeed become deeply entrenched. But even with serious conflicts, it is still just "a family quarrel."
There are deep-rooted close connections between Western European countries and the U.S. Moreover, I believe that the current generation of leaders who dominate EU and NATO policies will eventually be replaced. This process may take time, but it is inevitable.
At the root of it, the issue of national sovereignty is increasingly prominent in the process of globalization. Although globalization has brought many positive results for the economic and social development of countries around the world, it has also hidden the risk of self-negation. This self-negation is reflected in the intensification of imbalances — these imbalances exist not only between countries and regions, but also spread within each country.
Today, imbalance has become the primary issue to be resolved. And the only way to solve this problem is to strengthen the subject status of nation-states and limit the blindness of the market. The policies promoted by Trump essentially embody this idea.
Freedom News: Could NATO undergo transformation to adapt to current needs?
Boris Shmelev: If the U.S. really leaves NATO — although this possibility is extremely low — then the current NATO organization will inevitably come to an end. However, I believe that at that time, the EU will establish a new military organization to replace it. Discussions about establishing an independent European defense system have been ongoing for many years.
As is well known, for many years, the U.S. has firmly opposed the EU forming a joint army or establishing any form of autonomous military institution. But in terms of ideology, European leaders have already been prepared.
If NATO dissolves, how the EU will finally form this army is hard to predict. But it is certain that once the U.S. leaves NATO, Europe will definitely establish such an alternative institution.
Original: toutiao.com/article/7582378864073097782/
Disclaimer: This article represents the views of the author.